Quote:I'm not saying he had an advantage over other LTs.  All I am saying is he was not entirely foreign to the position when he entered the league.  In fact, he was a 3 year starter at Texas A & M.

 

That said, I'm sure there have been better performing NFL LTs that did not have the benefit of three years starting experience.

 

Jason Peters didn't play T at all in college.  He was a college TE and he has performed better at LT than Joeckel.

Did they also have the benefit of being put on IR 1/4 the way through their rookie season?

 

There have been better players with less college experience, but there have been hundreds of times more players who have had three or more years of college experience that were never good enough to ever even make an NFL roster. That is why your whole college experience argument has little merit. College experience does not necessarily translate to NFL experience. If it did, everyone who played 4 years in college would be NFL superstars and no one would declare early for the draft.

 

In the "3 years" that Joeckel has been here, he has had one full season of play. Compared to other players who have been in the league for that same time frame uninjured and who have also played college ball, that is a disadvantage. In fact, compared to every player that was able to participate fully over that period of time he is at a disadvantage.

 

Saying he has played 1 full season isn't making light of his experience in the NFL, It's a fact, and portrays his experience in the league a heck of a lot more accurately than saying he has been on the team "3 years".

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